Dead Space

Mordeqai 1842

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Lost, cold and alone,
There is no escape

Welcome all, to Dead Space!

I told people after GenCon I was done with degenerate IG for a while, and while that technically is true, I've taken Gagarin Deep Space, and created a similar beast.

Let's look at the cards:

  • The Meat Package™: DRT, Scorch, and soon, Boom. While only taking up 4 card slots (soon to be just 3), these cards exist to remind the nonbelievers that Weyland is still a force not to be trifled with. The DRTs are often left unrezzed until an economic advantage is gained, and Manhunt is out. Wait until they run something else, rez, and force them to waste the clicks jacking out and trashing the 5-8 cost DRTS, whilst taking the damage from the other. If they remain tagged, a single Scorch in hand can easily lead to a second one with Consulting Visit.

  • Consulting Visit: The heart of the deck, this can be tutored and recurred near-infitely with Museum and City Hall, bringing a constant threat of Hard-Hitting News, propelling your economy with Diversified Portfolio, and scoring out with Exchange of Information.

  • The Economy: This deck is a money vs money deck, and any time you're being denied your own, your opponent's is plummeting. Indian Union Stock Exchange makes 12 slots profitable, 7 an instant return, and 5 noticeably cheaper. With all 3 rezzed, almost all of those turn a profit. In particular, you can turn Chimera into an effective Pop-up, and a universal gear-check.

  • The Tax: Though runners like Whizzard and Valencia seem like natural counters to asset spam, Manhunt single-handedly forces them to think twice about running every turn. A wild DRT could mean death, and a Judge could mean worse. Even if they get through, a horde of recurring Encryption Protocols anchors them down to a single-digit credit pool.

  • The Punishment: Everyone knows tags mean death against a green deck, and most are able to play around it with cards like Hopper and IHW. But tags mean much more here. Around 60% of wins with this deck are Exchanging two Cleaners or a Government Takeover for Public Supports, and finishing off the 7th point with Hostile Takeover. Beyond that, runners might think themselves safe by amassing enough credits to work around HHN; A simple SEA Source > Closed Accounts resets them to zero, and if you have the combo in hand, can lead to 4 more tags, or even death. I've had few instances were a runner recovered from losing 30 credits on my turn. Even if you zero yourself out in the process, you'll likely have the boardstate to recover much faster than the runner.

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Troublesome Runners, and How To Deal:

Blood Money gave runners some wicked economy in Temüjin Contract, and it's seen in virtually every kind of deck. Others stick with the classic Magnum Opus, but luckily, many have dropped their Scrubbers and Paricias to make room for these economic powerhouses.

The only solution is to wait it out. A runner only has so many contracts, but your denial is not so limited. I've had runners trash upwards of 30 assets over and over again, but the inevitability will run them dry. As stated earlier, Manhunt can slow them down in the process, and DRTs can steer their runs to places where agendas are not.

A true problem that's been arising lately is that of New Angeles City Hall. Between that and the Slums, Elizabeth Mills has proven her place in the deck. Runners with the City Hall tend to play recklessly, trashing everything they can if it means they stay above 8 credits. If Mills is out of the question, don't be afraid to install a naked agenda and advance it, even it will give them 6 points. They may be up in points for the time being, but it won't last long if you can land an Exchange of Information.

In Conclusion:

Spams assets, drain their econ, and keep the threat alive. Patience is a virtue here, and almost all of my losses have been from a lack of it. I've had multiple games where a Kate or Andy exceeded my own pool by 30 credits, and you just have to tick that down, one trash at a time. Your victory will come, in time.

9 comments
31 Aug 2016 RubbishyUsername

Can confirm, I was running the Snitch/Au Revoir suite with Rabbit Hole against this list and I still couldn't keep eating meat damage, trashing cards and clearing tags while keeping up with money. It makes me so sad that FFG continues to allow degenerate lists like this one to exist and that is a testament to how despicably good this deck is still post MWL2.

31 Aug 2016 CodeMarvelous

@Mordeqaithe deck had my curiosity and then the use of Dedicated Response Team in its own faction finally got my attention. Definitely will be testing this.

31 Aug 2016 wynalazca

@RubbishyUsername it's only a problem when these decks are far and away over powered and every mtg out there chooses to bring them to every tournament. There were maybe a handful of Hot Tubs and IG Prison lists at gencon. That's not a problem at all. Museum errata has really lowered the power of these decks.

In a meta where it seems like if a corp wants to win they have to tag the runner, NACH should start seeing a lot of play over it's practical non-existence up until now. Just make sure you have 8 and steal all your agendas with film critic and you almost can't lose vs the current tag-hell corp meta.

@Mordeqai This list looks like a lot of fun and probably really strong vs most of the runner field. I've been thinking about what corps are viable these days and I think it's down to about 5 decks or so. Tag hell SYNC/CtM, 49IG (though it is way worse in a criminal siphon meta), midrange Foodcoats with FA options, something that's trying to be Fastro NEH (not russian, I think it's not that great even though it's a blast to play), and I was thinking some variation on Hot Tub Time Machine. Besides those decks, I think corps are in big trouble right now.

1 Sep 2016 Simone Suka

@Mordeqaiyou know I love your decks...but please... stop publishing them before an important Italian tournament ahah

1 Sep 2016 Saan

What advantages do you think this has over @bluebird503's list? His carries the standard ability to score out if needed through MCC, and also seems to be a good deal faster due to the Sensie's. I also seriously question Chimera's inclusion, as it's really, really bad early game, when this deck is at it's weakest. I do like the Closed Accounts, but I think that Jackson is the wrong card to remove for it, since draw power helps this archetype a good deal. I'd probably cut a Museum instead, since you can't have more than 1 rezzed at a time now, and there's enough recursion to keep them on the field.

1 Sep 2016 x3r0h0ur

MVT + product recall would be a tutorable econ that also functions well with the other moving parts. I get that econ might not be as much of an issue, but with Indian and encryption protocol, mo money outta no where! MCH for MVT-> mch for consult for product recall = as much as 12 credits? seems pretty good.

1 Sep 2016 Mordeqai

@x3r0h0ur Um... Yeah. That's brutal, definitely going to fit it in. Not sure if I should try to fit 3 more HB cards, or just straight swap the SEA for Product Recall. I just tried it in a few games, and it was convincing enough to drop the Diversified too. I think it's actually 5-14 though,6 from Indian, 3 from the Encryptions, and 5 from the Tour. Bonkers. Cutting Sea means I should go up to 3 Zealous though, possibly dropping at least 1 Tech Startup.

@Saan The primary difference is, of course, the influence. The advantage here is the ability to score out with Exchange of Information, giving you the ability to utilize the text box of the different agenda suite. His seems to be a bit more geared towards killing, I just tunnel a little less on it. I'll try out a version with Contruction Co, and swap the ICE for Ice Walls and such, then 2 of the 5/3's for Hollywoods. I'll comment back here with the results. His is much faster, but I value the patience here over the speed. Really, just preference.

@Simone Suka :D

2 Sep 2016 sepruda

Like this deck in theory, maybe I'm a bad pilot, but got wiped 5 games in a row - all of which installed Temujin click one...Not enough ice to protect my centrals, and my hq kept getting flodded up with agendas.

Most people seem to play temujin, desperado, sec testing

9 Sep 2016 konoharaven

Played this today - worked great against non-Andy crims, but a strong crim player will get Desperado and Sec Testing, then trash all your money. 3x Chimera is a mistake, in my opinion. These should be something else - I'll be experimenting with cheap code gates (mostly as a gear check... maybe Enigma?)

Cutting those meant I felt better about cutting 3x Indian Union Stock Exchange for Paywall Implementation, which further helps with the crim matchup. Added bonus, paywall is tutorable through MCH and Consulting Visit, and it stops Rumor Mill, which will rain on your day.

I think I'm also going to play around with Executive Search Firm, and swapping Curtain Wall for Hive. ESF finds Jackson Howard, Elizabeth Mills, and even Zealous Judge if you really need him today ( tutor, install, Hard-Hitting News sucks to be on the receiving end of). Curtain Wall is super taxing, but paying 14 to rez it sucks. I figure for the early game its a solid tax, and as the game moves on, you end up going for the kill before you try to score out.

I'll be jamming this online for a while, but I think this is a pretty darn good Weyland list that's only going to get better once BOOM! is street legal.